June 14, 2017

Tabloids can't get enough of polyfamilies — and treat them decently

Tabloid media are ever eager to feature happy polyfamilies for their perhaps incredulous audiences. The UK's Daily Mail published a piece today that it picked up from Daily Mail Australia, which got it from a TV show called "The Project" on Australia's Network Ten. The full video from that show is unviewable outside Australia, but here's a 20-second clip from it:

The blurb on the segment's webpage (June 14, 2017):

Polyamorous Relationships

A new wave of adventurous Aussies diving into the sex-flavoured waters of 'multiple-partner relationships'. Or, as they're apparently known: Polyamorous Relationships.

Here's the Daily Mail's story. Note that it introduces asexuality to its readers factually and non-judgmentally.

Is this the new face of modern love? Married man reveals what it is like to be in a polyamorous relationship with his wife and her best friend - and insists no one gets jealous
● Man with wife and girlfriend spoke about his life in a polyamorous relationship
● Michael and his wife both have extra partners but still share a loving connection
● They appeared on Project TV alongside Michael's girlfriend to share details
● He insists he does not get 'jealous' and strives to make all his partners happy

By April Glover for Daily Mail Australia

A man in a polyamorous relationship has revealed he enjoys having both a wife and a girlfriend - and insists he never gets jealous of his partner's boyfriend.

Three lovers named Michael, Maddie and Angel shared fascinating details about how the trio live together in polygamy in a revealing interview with Network Ten's The Project.

Michael and Angel, who are husband and wife and have been together for 15 years, appeared alongside Michael's girlfriend, Maddie.

"Maddie (left), Michael (middle) and Angel (right) spoke about their experiences in a polyamorous relationship."

The husband-and-wife duo, who were high-school sweethearts, say they wanted try new experiences but did not want to break up.

The polyamorous lovers claim they are not in a three-person couple, otherwise known as a 'thrupple' [sic], but share sexual and romantic connections with people outside of a traditional relationship.

'But that doesn't mean what Michael and I have is a superior or a primary relationship, it is just an extra relationship,' Angel said of her husband's girlfriend.

Angel's connection with her husband's girlfriend is non-romantic and non-sexual, and calls Maddie her 'best friend'.

Maddie told host Waleed Aly that she and Michael do not have sex and says she is an 'asexual' being, meaning she has no sexual feelings or desires for another person.

'It's just a really intense relationship,' she explained.

When asked the inevitable question about jealousy, Angel told the Project she was initially jealous of her husband's extra partners.

'Early on, I got very jealous, I realised that jealousy is a manifestation of insecurity and for me it was a red flag,' she said.

'I worked through it with Michael and my other partners. I still get jealous sometimes, although certainly nowhere near as much.'

But Michael, who juggles a wife and a girlfriend, says he rarely ever feels jealous of his wife's or other partners' sexual relationships.

A columnist for Yahoo Lifestyle thinks that Michael's public displays of knee-touch affection looked awkward: Awkward interview with polyamorous trio (June 15, 2017). Does she have a point, or is this just a case of you can't please everybody? I've always advocated public displays of triad affection while on camera, because body language speaks louder than words. But body language is subtle — and the subtleties are totally visible on TV.